day no. 16,858: starving to death and sewing machines

As soon as Mr Beaver said, “There’s no time to lose,” everyone began bundling themselves into coats, except Mrs Beaver, who started picking up sacks and laying them on the table and said: “Now, Mr Beaver, just reach down that ham. And here’s a packet of tea, and there’s sugar, and some matches. And if someone will get two or three loaves out of the crock over there in the corner.”

“What are you doing, Mrs Beaver?” exclaimed Susan.

“Packing a load for each of us, dearie,” said Mrs Beaver very coolly. “You didn’t think we’d set out on a journey with nothing to eat, did you?”

“But we haven’t time!” said Susan, buttoning the collar of her coat. “She may be here any minute...”

“Now don’t you get fussing, there’s a dear,” said Mrs Beaver, “but just get half a dozen clean handkerchiefs out of the drawer. ‘Course we’ve got a hope. We can’t get there before her but we can keep under cover and go by ways she won’t expect and perhaps we’ll get through.”

“That’s true enough, Mrs Beaver,” said her husband. “But it’s time we were out of this.”

“And don’t you start fussing either, Mr Beaver,” said his wife. “There. That’s better. There’s five loads and the smallest for the smallest of us: that’s you, my dear,” she added, looking at Lucy.

“Oh, do please come on,” said Lucy.

“Well, I’m nearly ready now,” answered Mrs Beaver at last, allowing her husband to help her into her snow-boots. “I suppose the sewing machine’s took heavy to bring?”

— C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Without women, we'd go without food.

Without men, we'd never get going.

Without women, we'd starve.

Without men, we'd still be packing.

We need women to not starve to death.

We need men to avoid bringing the sewing machine.

Without women, we run out of lembas and can’t get back home.
Without men, we run out of time and get caught before we get going.

We need women to keep us going.

We need men to get us going.

Genesis 2:18

And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him,"

We need men and women in order to make it.

We need each other.

We cannot be fruitful or multiply without each other.